The Decline of Civilization: Texting Shorthand & Other Social Media Abbreviations
I will be the first to admit that I, on a daily basis, violate the ever-changing rules of spelling and grammar. In large part, these transgressions are unintentional. I rarely spell "misspell" right. "Genealogy" is next to impossible, and I learned last week or so that I've apparently never known how to accurately spell "villain."
I'm sure I misplace commas, leave out hyphens, and so on. I have no serious problem with the honest mistakes people make in the day-to-day course of writing. But, I cannot understand a continued interest in purposely misspelling, misusing, and abbreviating words and phrases. Is this not the decline of civilization?
My Personal Admission of (Acceptable) Guilt
I confessedly agree that I often use "so" in ways that the strictest definition of the word may not allow. I also see "haha," "hehe," and ":)" necessary staples for written communication. Although I don't find these examples offensive when used in moderation, I'm sure someone out there would think I'm a pot calling the kettle black. But, hear me out. The prevalence of text messaging and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter has made animals out of us. Aren't the following intentional errors much worse than my cute and benign smiley face?
Seemingly-Hip Texting & Messaging Infractions
1. Inserting Numbers in Place of Letters and Words. "To" and "too" are not that long. Why do we need to type "Let's go 2 the store"? If someone is reduced to using the number in exchange for the word simply because that individual, in a moment of crisis, cannot remember which word is grammatically correct, then fine. But, overall, I would prefer to keep the numerals in "2," "4," and "Gr8" out of word- and letter-contention.
2. Typing Consonants but Leaving Out Vowels. Vowels are very important in our English language. There are reasons we have them and reasons we should use them. I understand the 140-character limitation on Twitter. Believe me, I really do. But, can't you include the necessary vowels and simply send two twitter comments, or rather, tweets--like you tech-savvy tweeps call them?
3. Using Absolutely No Punctuation or Capitalization (or Maybe Worse . . . Using Caps Lock).I similarly feel that the use of punctuation marks can be
helpful to readers. I don't know where I get these crazy ideas, but for some reason seeing a period mark aids me in understanding when a thought ends. And, for some other inexplicable reason, seeing a capital letter every now and then also helps me to sift through blocks of text. I would try to commend the reading comprehension people must have to understand the information being shared, but I just can't seem to get the words out.
4. Repeatedly Using Unclear Abbreviations, Acronyms & Initialisms. Sure, I use shorthand techniques. "A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" is a long way to say "he's LDS." When appropriate given a discussion's context, I'll opt for the latter. But, come on. Do we really need twelve million made-up letter combinations to describe our state of being? Apparently "lol," a short way to say "laugh out loud," isn't good enough. We also need "foomclol," a way to quickly say "falling out of my chair laughing out loud."
In the rare occurrence that someone directs one of these trendy usages to me, I literally have to copy and paste the randomness in a search engine to find some online translator with relevant street credentials. (I tried to leave that at "street cred," but I just couldn't do it.) Even if I can find a helpful site, a handful of matches are generally listed and you still have to weed through the horribly profane suggestions to find out what so-and-so's little sister meant.
An Open Letter to the Dear Social Networkers Among Us
Look, I'm not an intellectual snob--I'm not even an intellectual. You and I are probably a lot alike. People use big words that we don't understand. We get caught in the middle of sentences that we don't know how to finish given how we started. It can be intimidating trying to play by the rules.
But, is there no other way? Is an honest attempt at properly using English really that embarrassing or unattractive? Who worth impressing is actually impressed by this intentionally defiant and confusing behavior?
I do not know the answers to these questions. However, I wish to boldly share my humble opinion that, regardless of what your age is and what your peers do and say, grammar is always in style. I hope, and trust, that we will eventually agree on this important matter. In the meantime, perhaps I should minimize my time sorting through the largely incomprehensible blogs, posts, and comments that are clearly not aimed at me anyway.
I'm sure I misplace commas, leave out hyphens, and so on. I have no serious problem with the honest mistakes people make in the day-to-day course of writing. But, I cannot understand a continued interest in purposely misspelling, misusing, and abbreviating words and phrases. Is this not the decline of civilization?
My Personal Admission of (Acceptable) Guilt
I confessedly agree that I often use "so" in ways that the strictest definition of the word may not allow. I also see "haha," "hehe," and ":)" necessary staples for written communication. Although I don't find these examples offensive when used in moderation, I'm sure someone out there would think I'm a pot calling the kettle black. But, hear me out. The prevalence of text messaging and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter has made animals out of us. Aren't the following intentional errors much worse than my cute and benign smiley face?
Seemingly-Hip Texting & Messaging Infractions
1. Inserting Numbers in Place of Letters and Words. "To" and "too" are not that long. Why do we need to type "Let's go 2 the store"? If someone is reduced to using the number in exchange for the word simply because that individual, in a moment of crisis, cannot remember which word is grammatically correct, then fine. But, overall, I would prefer to keep the numerals in "2," "4," and "Gr8" out of word- and letter-contention.
2. Typing Consonants but Leaving Out Vowels. Vowels are very important in our English language. There are reasons we have them and reasons we should use them. I understand the 140-character limitation on Twitter. Believe me, I really do. But, can't you include the necessary vowels and simply send two twitter comments, or rather, tweets--like you tech-savvy tweeps call them?
3. Using Absolutely No Punctuation or Capitalization (or Maybe Worse . . . Using Caps Lock).I similarly feel that the use of punctuation marks can be
4. Repeatedly Using Unclear Abbreviations, Acronyms & Initialisms. Sure, I use shorthand techniques. "A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" is a long way to say "he's LDS." When appropriate given a discussion's context, I'll opt for the latter. But, come on. Do we really need twelve million made-up letter combinations to describe our state of being? Apparently "lol," a short way to say "laugh out loud," isn't good enough. We also need "foomclol," a way to quickly say "falling out of my chair laughing out loud."
In the rare occurrence that someone directs one of these trendy usages to me, I literally have to copy and paste the randomness in a search engine to find some online translator with relevant street credentials. (I tried to leave that at "street cred," but I just couldn't do it.) Even if I can find a helpful site, a handful of matches are generally listed and you still have to weed through the horribly profane suggestions to find out what so-and-so's little sister meant.
An Open Letter to the Dear Social Networkers Among Us
Look, I'm not an intellectual snob--I'm not even an intellectual. You and I are probably a lot alike. People use big words that we don't understand. We get caught in the middle of sentences that we don't know how to finish given how we started. It can be intimidating trying to play by the rules.
But, is there no other way? Is an honest attempt at properly using English really that embarrassing or unattractive? Who worth impressing is actually impressed by this intentionally defiant and confusing behavior?
I do not know the answers to these questions. However, I wish to boldly share my humble opinion that, regardless of what your age is and what your peers do and say, grammar is always in style. I hope, and trust, that we will eventually agree on this important matter. In the meantime, perhaps I should minimize my time sorting through the largely incomprehensible blogs, posts, and comments that are clearly not aimed at me anyway.
Tags & Keywords : opinion, editorial
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